


When a soul comes back

by Amandjnx



Series: CarolNat One Shots [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: CarolNat is Canon, F/F, Fix-It of Sorts, I love them so much, Never Heard of the Everlasting Exchange, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Red Skull ain't knowing shit, Secret Crush, Soul Stone (Marvel), babies in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29028264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amandjnx/pseuds/Amandjnx
Summary: As I said in the tags, Red Skull doesnt know what he is talking about for the soul stone beacause i said so.Leave your thoughts in the comments!!PS : Apologies in advance if there are typos, I didnt check before posting
Relationships: Carol Danvers/Natasha Romanov
Series: CarolNat One Shots [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669012
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	When a soul comes back

**Author's Note:**

> As I said in the tags, Red Skull doesnt know what he is talking about for the soul stone beacause i said so.
> 
> Leave your thoughts in the comments!!
> 
> PS : Apologies in advance if there are typos, I didnt check before posting

After everything that happened with Thanos, the snap, the blip, the battle at the compound, Carol found herself thankful to go back to her routine of flaying around the galaxies, helping people who needed her. Now, she was helped by the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor some times, they were often in communication the closest to a location got to go there, not the one getting the call.

It was slightly less fun that way, when half of the world was still dust, Natasha was the one saying who had to go where and which call they had to ignore. She had a way of being bossy but still nice at the same time, Carol didn't know how she did it but it made her days that were quite dark at the time a bit better. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Carol had a thing for the redhead, it was most likely it if she was being honest and Maria agreed with that.

When the dusted came back, Carol went to check on her best friend and explained to her everything that happened while she was away. Natasha's name was often mentioned and Maria eventually asked if there was something special about this particular woman. Carol, knowing she couldn't lie to her best friend, told her that she had a bit of a crush on her, even if she hated this phrase, and then had to relive the moment she discovered that Natasha had died. What an awful day it was, after the compound had been entirely destroyed, Carol looked for Natasha for long minutes until Steve stopped her and told her what happened.

Nobody knew about her feeling for her and they were all surprised by her reaction, how she flew away to be alone to cry. She showed up a few days later for Tony's funeral and Natasha's memorial but it became impossible for her to stand there with the people that used to be her friends without thinking about her. The Avengers were Natasha's family, she wanted to see them again, she wanted them back so hard that she sacrificed herself for them and Carol couldn't bare it, she couldn't be an Avenger if Natasha wasn't there.

So she flew around the universe, received messages from Maria once a week, visited her once a months, but she had no more contacts with the Avengers other than Thor.

One day though, she got news about them from Maria. She had been asked to tell Carol that Clint had died, he was with a fellow archer called Kate Bishop and during one of their missions, he died to protect her.

As much as she hated to go to the new Avengers compound, Carol had to show her respect to Clint's family, even though she did hold him accountable for Natasha's death. She never said it to his face but she wished he had died instead of her, after everything he did after the snap, he had as much red in his ledger as Natasha and sacrificing himself should have been his way of redemption. Natasha had already redeemed herself enough in Carol's opinion but the redhead never saw it that way unfortunately and that cost her life.

The Captain was in her air force official clothes for his funeral, an outfit that she hated to wear since Tony's funeral and Natasha's memorial. She met Laura and the kids for the first time, and most likely the only time, offered her condolences and then spent the whole ceremony in the back with Rhodey. Even after five years of saving the world together, it was awkward to stand beside him, they weren't really friends, the only reason they started working together in the first place was Natasha and without her it just felt wrong. She still made the effort to ask him how was life after all the shit that happened and he politely listened to her updates on what she was doing in space. Before leaving the Earth, Carol visited Maria, in deep need of blowing off steam, but she didn't feel like staying for more than a day.

She was so used to be in space now, going from planet to planet, never stopping to sleep – she physically didn't need to anymore, she just did when she was on Earth with Natasha to force her to sleep too. She ate when she was asked for help, most of the times the people thanked her with a typical meal of their planet. Flying around never got boring, though it gave Carol a lot of time to think and settling down like Maria sounded extremely relaxing and peaceful. Perhaps she would stop everything to live a normal life, if she ever felt old and tired, but for that she would like to have someone with her and this person she had not found.

The day after she left Earth, after a very long fight with an army trying to invade a small planet, Carol wanted a break and joined the Guardians of the Galaxy in their ship. She stayed for a few hours, they had a nice meal and chatted about their last missions until it was time for Carol to go back.

She was about to leave the Benatar when the Guardians received a distress call. Intrigued, Carol stayed with them, and in case it was a real emergency she would rush to the location.

To everybody's surprise, especially Carol's, Nebula's and Rocket's, the coordinates of the call weren't unknown and neither was the voice of the person calling them.

_"-body copy? This is Na-... noff, I'm on V-... I need assistance."_

Even with half of the information cut off, they all knew who it was, Natasha, she was on Vormir, she was alive.

"I have to go get her. You guys join us ASAP."

She was going to the exit of the ship when Rocket stood in front of her, "Captain, I know you really like Red but it could totally be a trap."

"I agree," said Nebula, "how did she manage to contact us?"

"Her ear piece," Carol supposed, "you guys all had one during the time heist, it must be that."

"Well if that's the case we can make sure it's her. Each one had its own radio signal, if it matches Red's it's her."

"What are you waiting for, fur face? Go!"

They both went fast to Rocket's seat and the racoon analyse the data they received from the call. After a never-ending minute, Rocket jumped on his chair as he laughed, "It's her. It is the radio signal of her earpiece!" he showed the screen but Carol had nothing else in mind then going after her.

"I'm going now, I know the coordinates. You have to get there fast too, she might need medical assistance or food."

"You got it, Cap," Rocket said and she was gone.

It was probably the fastest that Carol ever flew on this kind of distance, she usually couldn't reach light speed so fast but, for Natasha, she overpassed her limits. Getting closer to this forsaken planet, Carol slowed her speed in order to analyse its surface. She had heard from Clint how it was, the high mountain in the middle of nowhere and the water he woke up into. Carol assumed that Natasha was in there too, and if not the other solution was the bottom of the cliff.

Eventually finding this mountain, Carol flew at low altitude to try and catch sight of the red haired assassin. It took her ten minutes to see something else than rocks, at first small puddles of water and then human sized one until she saw her, Natasha, seated on the ground beside the puddle she probably woke up into.

Carol didn't waste a second and dove in direction of the redhead, her little silhouette becoming bigger and bigger as she got closer.

"Nat!" she exclaimed as she landed and took the last few steps that separated her from the spy, "God it's so good to see you," she added as she fell on her knees and took Natasha in her arms.

"Wow, Cap, I didn't think you would miss me so much," Natasha chuckled as she hugged back, "but wait! How are you here?"

"I was with the Guardians when they received your distress call, I came here as fast as I could and they should join soon," Carol explained as she observed Natasha, the way she was sitting her features, "You alright there?" she asked as she looked at Natasha's foot that was barely touching the ground.

Following her gaze, Natasha half smiled, "This kinda hurts right now."

"Let me guess, injury from the fall?"

Natasha cleared her throat, "I actually walked around the planet in case there was anything else than water and rocks and when I came back here I twisted my ankle."

"Oh shit!" Carol swore and rushed in front of Natasha, "Wanna get your boot off?" she asked but was already unfastening the laces.

"Yes please, I tried but it hurt too much."

Carefully, Carol loosened the boot and unzipped it before slowly pulling it off Natasha's foot, "It might hurt right-"

"Fuck," the redhead cursed under her breath.

"Yep, right there."

Carol wanted to laugh at Natasha's face, her closed eyes and frowning eyebrows but she also shared her pain, she twisted her ankles more than once and it did hurt like a motherfucker – as would say Nick Fury. But when she saw Natasha's socks, Carol couldn't hold her amusement, "You went on a universe saving mission with avocados socks?"

Natasha tried not to laugh but she had to admit that her choice of clothing that day had been strange, "Stop it! I know it's odd but they are really comfortable."

"Yeah, I bet," Carol replied as she took it off before gently pulling Natasha's feet onto her lap, "Let's see how bad it is," she muttered and pressed her thumbs on the redhead's skin to find the location of the pain. Right at the junction of Natasha's feet and her ankle, the spy jolted in pain before releasing a sharp breath, "Okay, it is really twisted. How did you hurt yourself so much?"

"These puddles are deeper than you'd think."

"I'll take care of it when the Guardians will be there. I hope they'll make it soon."

Natasha's hand reached Carol's shoulder, "At least I'm not alone anymore," she told her and smiled.

Carol sat back beside Natasha, thought about wrapping her arm around her shoulders and then remembered they weren't that close, or rather, Natasha was not her girlfriend. They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes until Carol heard Natasha's stomach gurgled, "For how long have you been there?"

"I lost track of time after injuring my ankle. I stopped counting the hours after three days, seven hours and forty five minutes."

"Wow! That's very precise."

Natasha chuckled, "It's not like I had other things to do."

"Yeah! But you must be so hungry," Carol said and, as she finished her sentence, Natasha's stomach gurgled again, "I didn't think of that. I could have gotten food for you."

"It's fine Carol," Natasha assured as her hand landed on Carol knee, "You are there, that's more than enough."

At this instant, Carol could only see Natasha's slightly parted lips, they looked so soft and were so appealing that it took all Carol's willpower to not give in. She had a hard time not staring too, Natasha was talking but the blonde couldn't focus on what she was saying, her lips were too distracting.

"Danvers!" shouted Natasha to bring the Captain back to reality, "you listening?"

Shaking her head, Carol straightened her posture and answered, "Sorry, I was… You were saying?"

"What happened while I was gone? Did you kill the bastard?"

At this moment, Carol realised that Natasha didn't know she had been away for a year, for her, it had been a few days, but the Earth did a whole trip around the sun while she wasn't existing anymore.

After thinking about her options, Carol decided that it was not the time to tell her, "There were a lot, I might need some help to explain it all," she chose to be vague, hoping Natasha would insist much.

"I'm sure Tony will love to tell me what happened, and make himself the hero at the same time."

Carol gulped, she had not heard the Iron Man's first name in long months and it really felt weird now, especially when she knew he was gone. But as hard as it was, she had to keep her emotionless face on until they would be in the Benatar, she wanted Natasha to feel a bit safer to be vulnerable and this planet was definitely not it.

There was a silence around them now, a silence that was so heavy on Carol that she had to break it, and she didn't found something else to talk about than her unspoken feelings, "I've been meaning to tell you something," she blurted out before realising what she was about to say but it was too late, she had Natasha's whole attention now.

She still allowed herself to take a breath before this moment, she would finally know if Natasha liked her that way too or not, "Okay, so… remember that time Steve joked about me wanting to ask you out?" Natasha nodded so Carol continued, "Well… he wasn't aware of it but I actually did want to ask you out that night and um… I guess I got shy and didn't."

Carol had to look away, she didn't want to know what Natasha would say, not anymore, she shouldn’t have told her that. Natasha had other things to do than dating, she was a busy woman, there was no time in her schedule for such distraction as Carol.

Eventually, after another silence too hard to bare, Carol looked back at the redhead and, to her surprise, she was smiling, "You… shy, I didn't think that was possible," Natasha whispered as the hand that was Carol's knee slid up to her thigh, "Why did you get shy?"

The feeling of Natasha's hand on her thigh – despite the thick fabric of her suit – sent shivers through Carol's spine, it became really hard for her to think, "Be-because I like you," she stuttered, her cheeks blushing with embarrassment.

"And you thought I'd say no?" Natasha asked as she leaned closer, their shoulders bumping as her gaze fell on Carol's lips.

Carol's eyes didn't resist for long, "I don't know," she replied and then all the world around her disappeared, it was only her and Natasha.

When the redhead opened her mouth to speak, it was the last straw and Carol gave it, she closed the gap between them and captured her lips. Her hand mindlessly found Natasha's cheek as the spy to a hold of her free one before lacing their fingers together. Natasha's lips were soft as feathers, like it was an angel that Carol was kissing. It was magical, a moment that Carol longed so much but it couldn't have been better.

"I've been waiting for you to kiss me for so long," Natasha murmured against Carol's lips as they parted.

"I've been wanting to kiss you for so long," Carol admitted before pressing a light peck on Natasha's lips again.

Natasha pressed her forehead against Carol, her beautiful emerald irises were hidden behind her eyelids and she had a hint of a smile on the corner of her lips. Carol would never get sick of this view, Natasha being happy, that was something so rare that Carol felt like she was a privileged person to witness that.

Unfortunately it wouldn't last, after the Guardians would join, Carol would have to tell Natasha that a lot changed. Tony died, Steve went back in time and was now old, Clint died as well. What was her habits all changed while she was gone and Carol didn't know how she would break the news but she had to.

Carol was maybe getting a bit to comfortable with Natasha so close to her when they heard the Benatar flying over them. Slowly, Natasha broke the contact between them and sat up as she took her sock and shoe in hand.

"Let me help you," Carol said as she got up and offered her hands to Natasha. With a little whimper, Natasha stood on her feet but her whole was on her non injured leg. They both looked back at the Guardians' ship and Natasha sighed, it was a long walk before they would make it, "I can carry you there," Carol told her as her heads reached Natasha's sides.

"It's fine, I can walked," the redhead assured.

"Considering the face you made when I touched your ankle earlier I doubt you can even take a step without falling. Lets not get you more hurt than you already are, okay?"

With another sigh, Natasha nodded and allowed Carol to step into her personal space to carry her bridal style. For the first few seconds, Carol forced herself to look straight in front of her as she saw in her peripheral vision that the redhead was blushing. Oddly, as they approached the Benatar, Natasha relaxed, it was probably due to her ordeal coming to an end.

"Is she all right?" asked Rocket when he ran out of the ship.

"I'm fine, just fucked up my leg."

He laughed, "Right! You needed a reason to end in the Captain's arms and it worked."

"Stop being a clown and get her food, Racoon," Carol ordered with her firmest voice.

"Aye aye Captain, jelly for the lady."

Natasha tilted her head so Carol felt she had to clarify, "They mostly eat jelly, it has different taste depending on the colour but I'm sure they'll find something better for you."

They didn't, Quill had eaten the last non jellied food on the way there. Natasha said it was not a problem, as long as she got something in her tummy what it was didn't really matter. Rocket gave her what he called the tastier jelly of this corner of the galaxy, which really didn't make sense because this galaxy was empty of any life and only Vormir was a planet where humans could breathe. Natasha seemed to like what she ate and even asked for more, Nebula giving her the rest of her portion. While she finished eating, Carol strapped Natasha's ankle so she could walk more easily, it would still hurt but it was bearable.

When she was done eating, Carol asked Nebula if there was somewhere she could have some privacy to tell Natasha everything she asked to know. The half alien half robot led them to Gamora's quarters, that were uninhabited since she had died.

Carol silently led the redhead to the room and locked the door behind them.

"Wanted some privacy?" Natasha purred as she wrapped her arms around Carol's neck and kissed her lips.

It felt like an impossible mission for Carol to pull away, making out was not what she intended when she brought Natasha in this room but she had to admit that it was nice.

After a long, perfect minute of soft kisses, Carol managed to break the kiss and took Natasha's hands, "We have a lot to talk about," she began but Natasha didn't seem to want that, "about everything that happened," she added and there she got her attention.

Gently, Carol guided Natasha to the undone bed and they sat side by side, Carol keeping one of Natasha's hands in hers, "Do you know what year it is?" she asked her, trying to breach the subject smoothly.

"Depends. If you take the year we came here with Clint it's 2014 but considering you're sexy short hair I'd say 2023," Natasha replied, running her fingers through Carol's hair as she did.

Carol didn't know how to start, telling Natasha that a year had pass would mess up her brain but she needed to know. There was no easy way, Carol just had to say it, "We are in November 2024, it's actually your birthday in a week."

"But- how?"

Carol could tell how confused Natasha was, for her it had been a few days, five at best from the moment she jumped off that cliff and now, but for the rest of the universe she had been gone for more than a year.

"We were told you died, Natasha. I was told you sacrificed yourself for the stone, and for Clint. More than a year has passed since."

Natasha was speechless, all she knew was wrong, she had no idea of what happened and when, "Tell me what they did after they got the stone, I need to know everything."

"Okay," Carol sighed, getting the story in order in her head before beginning. She told her about professor Hulk snapping, bringing all the dusted back. She explained how Thanos from the past came to the present and destroyed the compound. Natasha gasped at this part, realising the little belongings she owned must have disappeared in the ruins of her room. Then was Steve lifting Mjolnir, Strange and his portals, all the dusted coming back and them all teaming up to defeat Thanos. Carol's heart ache when she reached the end of the fight and remembered the women gathering against the Mad Titan and then the final snap, she had a hard time holding back her tears when she told the redhead that Tony died, saving the entire universe.

Natasha started crying at this moment and the more Carol said, the more tears ran down her cheeks. She had a little chuckle when the blonde told her Steve brought the stones back where and when they belonged and then went in the past to live his life with Peggy. She was glad he chose the normal life but it also saddened her that her friend was now very old and too weak to do any of the activities they used to do together. Carol also gave some details about Tony's funeral, how much of a pure and beautiful moment it was but didn't mention Natasha's memorial, knowing she would hate it.

The hardest part was coming for Carol, after talking about her year and the few things she knew about how the Avengers got rebuilt, she had to tell Natasha that her best friend had died.

In a non successful attempt to be more comfortable, Carol changed her position and sat cross legged on the bed to face Natasha. With gentle thumbs, she wiped what remained of Natasha's tears and pressed a kiss on her cheek as she held her hands, "There is on last thing, it happened very recently," she began, hoping Natasha was already so sad that hearing this news wouldn't hurt her more, "I had a call a week ago from Strange, which normally doesn't happen because he knows i don't want to work with the Avengers anymore... He called to tell me that um- he said he had bad news and them explained that Clint died on a mission. I'm so sorry Natasha"

To Carol's surprise, Natasha died cry more than she did earlier, only a few tears streamed down her cheeks but the Captain could still tell that she was deeply saddened by the news, she had her head down and was fidgeting with her belt, her classic defence mechanism.

"It makes sense," Natasha eventually muttered, and Carol was about to ask her to clarify herself when she repeated her words, "It makes sense, the Soul stone works with exchanges, I gave mine so Clint would have the stone, now that he…" she didn't finish this sentence, "my soul is freed, my sacrifice not needed anymore 'cause the person I gave my life for is… gone."

She was right, it made sense, but it also made Carol wonder, "What about Gamora?" she said and then realised Natasha didn't know her.

"She chose to stay," Natasha replied, which took aback Carol, "I wasn't alone, I mean I was totally dead in some ways. I- We were in what we called the soul world, where the people who sacrifice themselves for the stone go. I was on my own at first, but then she arrived and told me what happened to her, she was came from my past, but from the future of the year I was."

At that, Carol smiled to herself, proud she understood what the redhead said, "She was given the choice twice to go back, once very quickly after she got there, that was when Thor killed Thanos on the garden and then later, which I guess was after Tony played the hero," she laughed quietly, "he _is_ a hero. Anyway, to two times she said she wasn't ready, at the time neither of us knew it meant she could go back because Thanos died and she couldn't see him again, not yet."

"Why did you choose to come back?"

"For you," Natasha said and turned finally looked up, "for Steve, Clint, Tony, Wanda, T'Challa, Maria. I wanted to see my friends again, whether I was ready or not."

"You've been ready to see them again for years, you fought for it, of course you came back," Carol added, her hands reaching her cheeks to soothe her, "They will be thrilled to see you."

"I'm not sure I can…"

"Why?" Carol asked, not understanding the reason that would prevent her from seeing them.

Natasha sighed, "It's just, they moved on, they mourned me, coming back would be such a chock."

"Yeah but a good one, like when we heard your voice in your call."

"Actually, I just don't want to," Natasha said firmly as she straightened her posture, "I had a complicated life, I trusted people that didn't deserve it, considered family some that abandoned me. Hell, I even gave my soul for the entire universe, I'm done. I wanna start over, I want something normal, peaceful, like Steve did… just retire and enjoy the rest of my days."

Carol smiled, this idea sounded like perfection to her ears. The blonde could imagine herself throwing all her responsibility away and live with Natasha, but for that she had to want her there, "Do you want company? In your retirement?"

Natasha furrowed her brows, "Like… you want to retire too and be with me?"

"I can't just stop, but we can live somewhere else, another planet, and I could still help around but less. A _lot_ less."

"You would stop for me?" Natasha asked, her voice full of disbelief.

"I've been waiting for a reason to quit for a long time, Natasha, and you are definitely the best one. I've been flying around for so long now, decades, I think I deserve at least a very long break and spending it with you already makes me impatient to start."

In the blink of an eye, Natasha's lips were on Carol's, sealing the deal that was their brand new life together. They didn't know if it would work between them, they didn't know if retirement would suit them, but trying wouldn't hurt. And, if it worked, they would have a lifetime of perfect moments together, something they both barely had in their lives, but sharing them together was the most wonderful thing of it all.


End file.
